This is a list of coups d'état and coup attempts by country, listed in chronological order. A coup is an attempt to illegally overthrow the government of a country. Scholars generally consider a coup successful when the usurpers are able to maintain control of the government for at least seven days.[1]
1914: The Peasant Revolt in Albania,[6][7] also known as the Islamic Revolt or Muslim Uprising in Albania, was an uprising of peasants from central Albania, mostly Muslims against the regime of Wilhelm, Prince of Albania during 1914. It was one of the reasons for the prince's withdrawal from the country which marked the fall of the Principality of Albania.[8] The uprising was led by Muslim leaders Haxhi Qamili, Arif Hiqmeti, Musa Qazimi and Mustafa Ndroqi.
June – December 1924: The June Revolution (Albanian: Kryengritja e Qershorit or Lëvizja e Qershorit) also known as the Antibourgeois Democratic Revolution (Albanian: Revolucioni Demokrat Antiborgjez) was a peasant insurgency backed by the parliamentary opposition to the Zogu government, following the 1923 Albanian parliamentary election. Fan Noli becomes the Prime Minister of Albania.
September 14, 1998: The funeral of MP Azem Hajdari turns violent as the office of the Albanian Prime MinisterFatos Nano is attacked, obliging the latter to hastily flee and step down shortly after. His party remains in power.[9]
June 18, 1789: The Austrian Imperial Army occupied the Great Market of Brussels, dissolved the States of Brabant and Council of Brabant and tried to arrest all its members.
October 6, 1970: Military revolt. Three armed forces chiefs overthrow Alfredo Ovando Candía but ruled for less than a day before Ovando loyalists under Juan José Torres took back control. Ovando agreed to entrust the presidency to Torres
September 12, 1963: Displeased lower-ranking military personnel rebelled in Brasília after the Supreme Federal Court reaffirmed their ineligibility for legislative posts, in the Sergeants' Revolt
August 31, 1969: The military prevented Pedro Aleixo, civilian vice-president and legal successor according to the military dictatorship's recently enacted constitution, from assuming power after Costa e Silva suffered a stroke.
September 14–29, 1923: Staged in September 1923 by the Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP) under Comintern pressure and attempted to overthrow Alexander Tsankov's new government of Bulgaria that had come to power with the coup d'état of 9 June. Besides its communist base, the uprising was also supported by agrarians and anarchists. The uprising's goal was the "establishment of a government of workers and peasants" in Bulgaria.
September 17, 2015: The presidential guard headed by Gilbert Diendéréoverthrows Interim President Michel Kafando, one month before elections are due in the nation. However, the coup collapses one week later and Kafando is reinstalled.
1891–94: Several Balmacedist plots, Planned by Hernán Abos-Padilla, Nicanor Donoso, Diego Bahamondes, Luis Leclerc, Herminio Euth, José Domingo Briceño, Edmundo Pinto, Manuel and Emilio Rodríguez, Virgilio Talquino and Anselmo Blanlot against the new government
1912: A failed plot against President Ramon Barros Luco. In September, Gonzalo Bulnes the appointed leader of the plot, desisted.
1919: A failed plot by Generals Guillermo Armstrong and Manuel Moore against President Juan Luis Sanfuentes
September 27, 1932: A successful coup of General Pedro Vignola that resulted in the resignation of PresidentBartolomé Blanche and the return to civilian rule
1933: A failed plot against PresidentArturo Alessandri. Commander-in-Chief of the Army, Pedro Vignola called "to resist the Milicia Republicana by any means"
1935: Humberto Videla's plot, failed rebellion of NCO's
1936: plot against Alessandri, By René Silva Espejo and Alejandro Lagos
February 960: Coup at Chen Bridge during the Later Zhou dynasty, one of its distinguished military generals, Zhao Kuangyin, staged a coup d'état, forcing the last ruler of the dynasty, Emperor Gong, to abdicate the throne in his favour. Thus the general Zhao Kuangyin became Emperor Taizu who founded the Song Dynasty, reigning from 960 until his death in 976.
September 4, 1323: Coup d'état at Nanpo against Gegeen Khan (alias Emperor Yingzong of Yuan, or Shidibala).[49]
April 18, 1926: Zhang Xueliang and Wu Peifu capture the capital Beijing and then sack city leading to the collapse of Beiyang government and near destruction of Guominjun faction.
June 22, 2019: Failed coup against the regional government in Amhara Region; resulted in the death of several prominent Ethiopian civil and military officials
July 26–28, 1794: A conspiracy of anti-Robespierrist Montagnards form an alliance to have de facto dictator Robespierre and his associates arrested and executed; they escape but are arrested again and executed
2021: under the coordination of a conspirationist leader, around 300 followers (including policemen and military forces) aimed to overthrow Emmanuel Macron[62]
December 7, 2022: Police arrested 25 people for allegedly planning a coup. Part of the alleged plot included storming the Bundestag, the German parliament building.[63]
1831: A naval mutiny organized by Andreas Miaoulis against the government of Ioannis Kapodistrias, leading to the burning of the fleet on August 13 in the port of Poros
1831: after the assassination of Kapodistrias, a revolt against his brother Augustinos forced the Senate to take refuge in Astros
1935 Greek coup d'état on October 10, 1935, led by General Kondylis, signalling the end of the Second Hellenic Republic and leading to the restoration of King George II to the throne, according to a referendum
December 13, 1967: Greek counter-coup attempt led by King Constantine II against the Regime of the Colonels. The failure of the counter-coup forced the King to leave Greece definitively
May 23, 1973: The Velos mutiny against the Regime of the Colonels. The crew of the destroyer HNS Velos (D-16), under the command of Nikolaos Pappas, demanded political asylum in Italy, while the rest of the mutiny in Greek territory is suppressed
Lunar August, 456 AD: Historical texts state that Mayuwa no Ōkimi (ja:眉輪王) assassinated reigning ŌkimiEmperor Ankō (安康天皇) over the alleged killing of his father. According to Nihonshiki, the influential Ōomi Katsuragi no Tsubura was also killed by arson, whereas the Kojiki says he killed himself. This potentially could have been a coup attempt as the two most senior statesmen were targeted and eliminated, nevertheless the plotter is not indicated to have wanted to assume the throne, instead Emperor Yuryaku ascended 3 months later
1866–68: The Meiji Restoration and modernization revolution in Japan. Samurai uprising leads to overthrow of the Tokugawa Shogunate and establishment of "modern" parliamentary, Western-style system under the Meiji era
In 1980 former president Nassir, along with his brother in law Ahmed Naseem, the health minister Mohammed Mustafa Hussain and a leading businessman Khua Mohammed Yusuf, allegedly hired a group of nine former members of Britain's elite Special Air Service commandos and sent them to assassinate president Gayoom. The mercenaries used Sri Lanka as their base and carried out several reconnaissance trips. They were also provided arms to carry out their mission and promised an inducement of $60,000 each. The attempt was called off by the SAS members because they started having second thoughts.[75]
In October, 1958 a split within the AFPFL threatened to provoke a coup from field officers. In order to settle the situation U Nu invited the military to form caretaker government. In 1958–60, the caretaker government under General Ne Win was formed. The caretaker government initially appeared to be interested in building state capacity. It reduced corruption, improved bureaucratic efficiency, and managed to deal with the pocket armies.
1559: Drabya Shah killed the Khadka, Raja with his own hand with a sword, during the race with conspiracy and started the rule of his dynasty under Shahas.[84]
In 1882 Chautariya Colonel Ambar Bikram Shah and his Gorkhali aide attempted assassination of Ranodip Singh but failed and were killed in Teku by the Ranas.
From the 1565 Spanish conquest until 1898, there were than 20 failed Philippine revolts against Spain, including the Chinese revolts (1603, 1662), Dagohoy rebellion (1744–1825), Silang rebellion (1762–63), Pule revolt (1840–41), all crushed by the Spanish colonial government. Most of these were due to redress personal grievances (land use, unjust taxation, forced labor) and were not aimed to overthrow the government in Manila. The following list does show which plots did aim to overthrow the national government.
1942–1954: Failed Hukbalahap Rebellion against Japan and later the government of the Philippines, ended with the surrender of the Huks.
21 May 1967: Failed overthrow by Lapiang Malaya of the Third Philippine Republic led by PresidentFerdinand Marcos, ended with government forces killing and arresting the participants.
26 January–17 March 1970: First Quarter Storm, massive protests against Ferdinand Marcos.
27–29 January 1987: Failed coup attempt, known as the GMA-7 incident, in the Philippines led by Colonel Oscar Canlas, ended with one rebel soldier killed, and 35 others injured.
18 April 1987: Failed coup attempt, known as the Black Saturday incident, ended with one rebel soldier killed.
13 July 1987: Alleged coup attempt, known as the MIA plot, ended with four officers being sued in military court.
4 March 1990: Hotel Delfino siege, government troops under Brigadier General Oscar Florendo fought against rebel forces led by suspended Cagayan Governor Rodolfo "Agi" Aguinaldo, crushed by the Philippine government.
4–6 October 1990: Failed mutiny known as the Mindanao crisis, mutinying soldiers staged a dawn raid on an army base in Mindanao, defeated by the government.
Attempts to wrest control of a chamber of Congress, while are plots, are not coups because it doesn't fit the definition of "removal of an existing government from power" as the head of state and government are not at stake (The Philippines uses the presidential system of government with separation of powers). There had been several instances of this, the latest of which were in 2020 in the House of Representatives and in 2018 in the Senate. One example was in March–April 1952 when the Senate presidency was changed three times.
September 1917: Lavr Kornilov attempts to march into Petrograd, overthrow the Provisional Government, dissolve the Petrograd Soviet and possibly establish a military dictatorship after being appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army by Alexander Kerensky. The coup failed because of a lack of support and mass resistance, but it eroded the Provisional Government's legitimacy and revived the Bolsheviks. It also resulted in the provisional government formally abolishing the Russian monarchy and proclaiming the Russian Republic.
November 1964: At the request of Crown Prince Faisal (Ibn Saud's third son), his brother Muhammad bin Abdulaziz (Ibn Saud's fourth son) led a palace coup which ousted King Saud (Ibn Saud's second son), making Faisal king.[95]
1986: There was a series of coup attempts against President René led by the Seychelles Minister of Defence, Ogilvy Berlouis. Operation Flowers are Blooming was the name of an operation by the Indian Navy to help avert a threatened coup against the government of President France-Albert René.
July 31, 2023: Sierra Leone police arrested 19 people, including fourteen serving personnel of the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces, two officers of the Sierra Leone Police and one retired chief superintendent of police who were allegedly planning a coup between August 7 and 10.[96][97][98][99] In addition, five military officers and three police officers were subject to a search and capture warrant.[97]
November 26, 2023: an attempted coup involving attacks on barracks and a prison, resulting in the death of 19 people. The incident resulted in the arrest of 13 officers and 1 civilian.[100]
June 2, 1985: a group of far-right soldiers and officers (along with some civilians) planned to take power following a false flag attack, but the conspiracy was later aborted.[citation needed]
1964: The October Revolution in Sudan, driven by a general strike and rioting, forced President Ibrahim Abboud to transfer executive power to a transitional civilian government, and eventually to resign.
1755: Leventina (Ticino) against Canton Uri[citation needed]
1781: Chenaux (Fribourg) against Canton Fribourg[citation needed]
1797: Peasants of Baselgebiet against the City of Basel and ousted Peter Ochs and Peter Vischer[citation needed]
January 8, 1800: Republicans (Hans Konrad Escher, Paul Usteri, Albrecht Rengger, Bernhard Friedrich Kuhn.) ousting the Patriots ( Karl Albrecht von Frisching, Karl von Müller-Friedberg und Carl Heinrich Gschwend)
August 7, 1800: Patriots ousting the Republicans
October, 27/28 1801: Federalist (Alois Reding & Johann Rudolf von Frisching) with help of the French Raymond Verninac ousting Unitarier and Patriots
April 17, 1802: Unitarier under the Lead of Bernhard Friedrich Kuhns ousting the Federalist Alois Reding
September 6, 1839: Züriputsch: Radical Movement under the lead of Conrad Melchior Hirzel & Fridrich Ludwig Keller ousting the Liberals. Killing of Johannes Hegtschweiler.
Sweden
18 May 1160, successful: king Eric the Holy is killed on orders of Magnus Henriksson, who takes power as king Magnus II of Sweden
12 April 1167, successful: king Charles Sverkersson (later sometimes called ”Charles VII”) is killed by men loyal to Canute Ericsson, who was declared king and consolidated his power in 1173
1439, successful: king Eric of Denmark, Sweden and Norway (Kalmar Union) was deposed in a coup from the Danish and Swedish thrones, in 1440 also from the Norwegian throne.
June 1448, successful: Charles Canutesson is elected and hailed as king of Sweden under the pressure of his own private army
1457, successful: Charles Canutesson is ousted following a rebellion by the archbishop and the high nobility
1917–8, failed/cancelled: riots in Stockholm is followed by Socialist threats of revolution, but the plans are never realized; however, king Gustaf V is finally accepting parliamentarism and appoints Nils Edén as prime minister for a Liberal-Social Democrat coalition government to ease political tension[107]
The number of coups in Thailand—whether successful or unsuccessful— is uncertain, leading one academic to call for a concerted effort to make a definitive list.[108]
According to Paul Chambers, a professor at Chiang Mai University's Institute for South-East Asian Affairs, there have been almost 30 coup attempts in Thailand (whether successful or unsuccessful) since 1912. Some count 11 coups since 1932.[109] Others claim there were 13 since 1932.[110]
1912: Coup planned by military officers is discovered and thwarted.
1 April 1981: A coup led by the deputy commander-in-chief of the army failed when forces loyal to the government suppressed the revolt. The "Young Turk" group of officers who staged the coup were dismissed from the army.[112]
May 15, 1826: The Janissaries revolted and attempted to overthrow Sultan Mahmud II in opposition to his military modernizations, but he had the Sipahis force them back to their barracks and permanently disbanded them.
May 30, 1876 [tr]: Due to the public discontent caused by crop failures, public debt and excessive spending, 32nd Sultan of the Ottoman Empire Abdulaziz was deposed by his ministers on 30 May 1876 and found dead several days later, which was attributed to suicide. He was replaced by Murad V.[113]
February 22, 1962: A failed coup attempt led by Colonel Talat Aydemir due to the discontent by the election results on July 9, 1961.
May 20, 1963: A second failed coup attempt led by officers loyal to Colonel Talat Aydemir who was retired after the previous coup attempt. The plotters were motivated by the purges of army officers that took part on May 27, 1960, coup. İsmet İnönü's government prevented the coup. Colonel Talat Aydemir, who was granted amnesty for the previous attempt, was executed.
February 28, 1997: the General Staff issues a memorandum demanding the reversal of several policies of the Islamist government of Necmettin Erbakan, precipitating its collapse. Due to the lack of an overt military takeover, the event is popularly known as the "postmodern coup" (Turkish: Post-modern darbe).
1913: During the suffragette bombing and arson campaign, Special Branch detectives discovered that the WSPU had plans to create a suffragette "army" known as the "People's Training Corps" and informally as "Mrs Pankhurst's Army".[119] The army was intended to proceed in force to Downing Street to imprison ministers until they conceded women's suffrage.[119] After the discovery of the plans, they were aborted.[119]
August 29, 1786: Daniel Shays leads a march on the federal Springfield Armory in an unsuccessful attempt to seize its weaponry and overthrow the government. The federal government found itself unable to finance troops to put down the rebellion, and it was consequently put down by the Massachusetts State militia and a privately funded local militia. The widely held view was that the Articles of Confederation needed to be reformed as the country's governing document, and the events of the rebellion served as a catalyst for the Constitutional Convention and the creation of the new government.[120]
1933–34: A group of businessmen were said to be conspiring to overthrow Franklin D. Roosevelt and install a fascist dictatorship. It is said to have failed when Smedley Butler refused to participate and instead testified before Congress.
October 14, 1931: Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana Paul N. Cyr had himself sworn in as Governor while Governor Huey Long was out of state. Long had been elected to the Senate in 1930 but intended to remain Governor until the end of his term in 1932. Long sent the National Guard to the Governor's mansion and the state Capitol and returned to Baton Rouge to secure his position as governor. Long had Cyr removed as Lieutenant Governor by successfully arguing to the Louisiana Supreme Court that Cyr had vacated the position by swearing himself in as governor.[121][122][123]
October 8, 2020: The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced the arrests of 13 men suspected of orchestrating a domestic terror plot to kidnap American politician Gretchen Whitmer, the Governor of Michigan, and otherwise using violence to overthrow the state government.
October 18, 1945: President Isaías Medina Angarita was overthrown by a rebellion and a popular movement, which saw a transition to a democratic government
Spring 1516: Emperor Lê Tương Dực was deposed in a military coup; the army enthroned his nephew Lê Chiêu Tông
1524: Emperor Lê Chiêu Tông fled the capital due to a rebellion; general Mạc Đăng Dung quashed the rebellion, seized the opportunity to stage a coup against the emperor (who was killed by Mạc's supporters soon after), and enthroned his brother Lê Cung Hoàng.[127]
15 June 1527: Emperor Lê Cung Hoàng, the puppet of general Mạc Đăng Dung, was deposed and executed in a military coup by Mạc, who proclaimed himself the emperor of his own new Mạc dynasty. This led to the Lê–Mạc War (1527/33–1592).
1965: Army units commanded by General Lâm Văn Phát and Colonel Phạm Ngọc Thảo fight to a stalemate with those of the ruling military junta, led by General Nguyễn Khánh. Following this, however, General Nguyễn Cao Kỳ and Air Marshal Nguyễn Chánh Thi (hostile to both the plotters and to Khánh himself) seized power themselves with the backing of the United States. They then forced Khánh into exile.
1965: following the colonial government's Unilateral Declaration of Independence, the colonial governor dismisses the government, but the government ignores this and instead replaces the governor with an "Officer Administering the Government"
^Powell, Jonathan M.; Thyne, Clayton L. (1 March 2011). "Global instances of coups from 1950 to 2010 A new dataset" (PDF). Journal of Peace Research(Preprint). 48 (2): 249–259. doi:10.1177/0022343310397436. ISSN 0022-3433. S2CID 9066792. Retrieved 20 June 2022. Coups may be undertaken by any elite who is part of the state apparatus. These can include non-civilian members of the military and security services, or civilian members of government.
^Jelavich, Barbara (1999) [1983], History of the Balkans: Twentieth century, vol. 2, Cambridge, UK: The Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge, p. 103, ISBN0-521-27459-1, retrieved January 25, 2011, Soon the government was faced with major peasant revolt
^"Fighting in Albania, The armistice broken". The Advertiser. Adelaide: 15. 1914. Retrieved January 25, 2011. Essad Pasha wished to obtain the Crown of Albania, and the peasants' revolt as well as Arif Hikmet's actions were his work.
^Heaton-Armstrong, Duncan (2005). "An Uprising in the Six-Month Kingdom". Gervase Belfield and Bejtullah Destani (IB Tauris, in association with the Centre for Albanian Studies). Archived from the original on July 23, 2011. Retrieved January 25, 2011. Muslim uprising in central Albania, one of the factors that led to the Prince's withdrawal from the country and the fall of the so-called six-month kingdom on the eve of the First World War.
^Purcell, Roett (1997). Brazil Under Cardoso. Lynne Rienner Publishers. p. 103. ISBN9781555874520. Retrieved 2016-03-19 – via google.ca. Coup against pETER II Brazil.
^Bakewell, Peter A history of Latin America: c. 1450 to the present Blackwell Publishing USA p. 518
^Page 141Industrialized Nature: Brute Force Technology and the Transformation of the Natural World
^Bingham, Woodbridge (1950). "Li Shih-min's coup in A. D. 626. I: The climax of princely rivalry". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 70 (2): 89–95. doi:10.2307/595537. JSTOR595537.
^Henry Hoyle Howorth, Ernest George Ravenstein History of the Mongols: From the 9th to the 19th Century, p. 382.
^Page 221From Colonization to Democracy: A New Historical Geography of South Africa
^Page 86Conservative Parties, the Right, and Democracy in Latin America
^Torres, José Antonio (20 February 2010). "Golpe de Estado a Horacio". El Nacional (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
^Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the Congress. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1894. Who were the parties that asked for American Aid. Six of them were Hawaiians, one English, and one German; five were Americans, but residents of Honolulu; a majority alien to us.
^Ricklefs, M.C. (2008). A History of Modern Indonesia since c. 1200. 4th edition. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 349.
^Richards, Leonard (2003). Shays's Rebellion: The American Revolution's Final Battle. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN978-0-8122-1870-1.
Coups d'Etat, 1946–2015 – List of coups and coup attempts 1946–2015, by the Center for Systemic Peace.
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